Stories: Siblings' Social
Written by: Redfork2000 Plot With her parents gone to another city for work reasons, Alice is left to take care of her younger brother, Max. However, things don't go too well, as they both end up arguing and getting angry at each other. Will Alice and Max be able to overcome their differences, or wil lthis fight be the one to end the unstable relation between the two siblings? Cast * Alice * Max * Blast * Ace * Tommy * Boulder Story It's a warm morning in Echo Creek. Alice is seen sleeping in her bed. * Alice: *''dreaming* Blast, I never knew you were such a great cook! Are those pancakes I smell? That aroma... is that orange juice? And the smell of smoke... smoke? ''Alice wakes up, realizing the smell of smoke wasn't in her dreams. * Alice: Smoke! The house is burning! Alice quickly runs downstairs, with the blanket still attatched to her, causing her to trip and fall her way down the stairs. When she arrives, she sees her parents sitting at the table, and her brother Max in the kitchen. * Max: Alice, you ruined the surprise! I was going to going to serve you breakfast in bed! * Alice: Huh? * Max: Forget it... * Alice's Dad: Well, you ruined his surprise. That means that you're grounded. * Alice: What? * Alice's Dad: *''laughs* I'm just kidding. * Alice's Mom: I'll have you know that Max here cooked this yummy lookin' breakfast all on his own. ''Alice comes to the table, and sees that everything on the table is burnt. * Alice: I figured... *''sees a glass full of something black, and smells it* I didn't know you could burn juice. * Max: Well, now you do! * Alice's Mom: I've been teaching him a bit of cooking lately. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a great chef by the time we return from our business trip. * Alice: Business trip? Is that today? *''sees a bowl with a black gooey liquid inside it* ''Let me guess... oatmeal? * Max: Nope, toast! * Alice's Dad: Well, yes, Alice. But look on the good side. You two will have lots of time to spend together as brother and sister. * Max: I guess so... * Alice: Sure... ''Alice doesn't even touch her food, as it's all burnt. * Alice's Dad: Are you going to eat that? * Alice: No, go ahead. * Alice's Dad: Got it. *''starts eating that as well*'' * Alice: But, I already have so many things to do already. Work on my science projects, help the Locked Room Gang, prepare my invention for the science fair... I guess "spending time with Max" will have to be added to the list. * Alice's Mom: I'm sure you'll both have a great time together. * Alice's Dad: Well, we'd better go now. * Alice's Mom: We love you! * Max: Bye! * Alice: Bye. Alice and Max's parents leave the house and head of to their business trip. * Alice: Well, let's get this kitchen cleaned up. * Max: Cleaned up? But we haven't even eaten yet. * Alice: Max, I appreciate the gesture, but we simply can't eat this breakfast. it's burnt. * Max: It's not that burnt. * Alice: Don't worry, I'll make us a proper breakfast. * Max: I'm assuming you'll let me help too, right? * Alice: Uh... of course. Just let me get things started. Alice is seen cooking for a long time, while Max waits bored. * Max: Alice, didn't you say I would help? * Alice: You will! You could... put the garnish on the plates. * Max: You mean that parsley? * Alice: Exactly. Just make sure it's well-centered. * Max: Got it. *''puts in on the plate*'' * Alice: That's not centered enough. Try it again. * Max: *''lifts the parsley and places it again*'' * Alice: Try it again. * Max: *''repeats the process*'' * Alice: Try it again. * Max: *''repeats the process*'' * Alice: Try it again. * Max: *''repeats the process*'' * Alice: Try it again. * Mex: Come on, Alice! Who cares if the parsely is one centimeter to the left!? * Alice: Actually, it's only 6 milimeters. * Max: Whatever! You're just too perfectionist sometimes. * Alice: You know what? Forget the parsley. Let's just eat without it. * Max: Better. Once Alice and Max have finished eating, Alice is ready to head to her lab, but Max is following her. * Alice: There are some things I must attend to. Can you take the dirty towels to the laundry room? * Max: Sure, why not? Max grabs the dirty towels, and takes them to the washing room. There, he sees some clothing that could be washed. * Max: Maybe if I wash these, Alice will realize that I'm just as useful as she is. After a while, Alice walks into the backyard, to see that Max has washed all the clothing in the laundry room, and has put it to dry outside. * Alice: Max! * Max: Hey, Alice, did you see what I did? I told you I could be useful! * Alice: B-b-but, you washed You washed my incredibly expensive one-of-a-kind designer crocheted wool sweater! Do you know how hard these things are to come by? * Max: What's the big deal? * Alice: The big deal is that in the heat of the sun, wool... shrinks. Alice tries to put on her sweater, but it doesn't fit anymore. * Alice: See!? * Max: Oh, sorry. Alice looks furious, but then, bottles up her anger and tries to calm herself. * Alice: I'll just get back to work in my lab. * Max: What about me? * Alice: Stay out of trouble, okay? Please? *''walks away*'' * Max: Gee, I just wanted to be helpful for once. After a couple of hours, Max is bored in the living room, while Alice is locked in her lab, working. * Max: Agh! I'm bored! When will Alice finish her work in the lab? Max then remembers what Alice said: * Alice: *''in Max's mind* Stay out of trouble, okay? ''Max then sees some paper and some crayons. * Max: Hm... well, I never got in trouble for drawing. Max starts drawing. After a while, Alice comes, and sees what Max is doing. * Alice: Max, no! * Max: What now? * Alice: Why did you ruin these papers? * Max: Ruin them? They're just old papers. * Alice: Those "old papers" are a history report I had been working on for weeks! It was due for this Friday! * Max: What!? Then what were they doing here!? * Alice: That doesn't matter! You shouldn't have used those papers without knowing what they were! You know what? I'll go outside for a break. You can help by picking up these papers and stacking them, neatly. Put the crayons and pencils back exactly where you found them, and please find something to do that doesn't create a large mess for me to clean up! *''leaves*'' Max is frustrated, and walks away. He then sees the door to Alice's lab open, and sees that the place is a mess. Lots of open books on the table, the blackboard full of weird numbers and signs, and other objects are an entire mess. * Max: Well, this might finally be the chance to fix everything with Alice. When Alice returns, she sees that her lab has been reorganized. Her blackboard is clear, all the books are stored in their places, and everything else looks neat. * Alice: MAX! What did you do!? * Max: I saw this place was a mess, so I thought cleaning it might help to apologize for the issue with your homework. * Alice:'' This wasn't a mess! It was organized chaos! I was trying to solve a very important equation. Everything I had on my blackboard! The books I had on my table! It was all part of the process! Now I have to start again from scratch! * Max: Oh, come on! Everytime I make a mess, you get angry! * Alice: But this was MY mess, in MY room! *''gets angry, but again, tries to calm herself* ''I need some time alone. ''Max goes outside, leaving Alice alone in her lab. Outside in the park, while Max is on a bench, bored, Tommy comes along. * Tommy: Hey, Max! How's it all going with Alice? I heard you two are alone. I know I'd love to be there... * Max: I wouldn't. My sis and I just can't get along! She gets angry for whatever I do! She's nothing but a grumpy girl that doesn't care about anything but her science. * Tommy: She's not grumpy! *''notices himself yelling* Sorry about that. Maybe you just haven't found the right way for you two to come together. * Max: And what would that be? * Tommy: How about the Siblings' Social? * Max: What's that? * Tommy: It's a special event Blast and Ace are organizing. Teams of siblings will participate and compete for different prizes. The concept of working as a team with your sibling is definitely going to make you and Alice come closer together. * Max: You know? That doesn't sound too bad. Alice will think it's a great idea! ''A while later, back in Alice's lab... * Alice: What a terrible idea. I have lots of important things to do. I can't go to some silly contest right now. * Max: Any sibling who cares about their sibling will go! * Alice: Max, playing silly little games in the dirt isn't my idea of a good time, with or without a sibling. * Max: Well then! Maybe, maybe I'll try the Siblings' Social without a sibling! In fact, I think I'll try the rest of my'' LIFE without a sibling! * Alice: *''gasps* ''Oh, I'm the one who's ruining your life?! Really?! Have you looked around this place? I'm the one who'd be better off with no sibling! * Max: Well it looks like we finally agree on something! Neither of us needs a sibling! * Alice: Deal! * Max: Deal! Good-bye unsister! * exits the room, slamming the door behind him*'' * Alice: Hmph! Max goes to Blast's house, where he and Ace are getting everything ready for the Siblings' Social. He explains to Blast and Ace everything that happened with Alice. * Ace: So Alice said that the Siblings' Social is silly? * Max: Not just the Social. She thinks I'm silly too. * Blast: Meh, Alice thinks everything is silly. * Ace: Just give her some time. She'll get over it. Siblings always do. * Max: Not siblings like her. * Ace: It'll all be fine. Trust me. In the meantime, Blast and I are going to do some chores. Would you like to join us? * Max: Do you really want me to help? Everytime I try to do something helpful, I end up making a mess. * Ace: Don't say that. Just look. Blast grabs a basket, and Ace picks up dirty clothing, and tosses it into the basket. They laugh together as Ace tosses the clothing towards Blast, and Blast moves around to make sure the clothing falls in the basket. * Ace: Nice catch, Blast. * Max: This is a chore? * Ace: Yes. This clothing is dirty, so it needs to go to the laundry room. * Blast: It's usually a boring task, so we make a game out of it. * Ace: All tasks are better when done together. * Max: Alice never wants us to do ANYTHING together. Meanwhile, Alice is in her lab. * Alice: Ugh, all that work ruined, thanks to Max. *''she sees that everything is very organized*'' Oh my. It's usually a big mess in here. Hm... Alice grabs a few books, and writes a few operations on her blackboard, and finally solves the equation. * Alice: This is genius! If Max hadn't... Well, no matter. He still shouldn't have touched my things without permission. Back at Blast's house, Max sees Blast and Ace are now cleaning the floor by skating on it, using sponges tied to their shoes as skates. They also splash water on the floor while they do so. * Max: Is this how you clean the house? Alice would say this is ridiculous. * Blast: Well, that's ridiculous. Blast accidentally splashes some water on Ace. * Ace: Blast... * Max: Please Ace, he didn't mean to... * Ace: *''splashes some water back to Blast, and they both begin to play splashing water at each other, laughing* How do you like that, little splasher? * Blast: *''laughs* ''It's just like the old days! * Max: Wow... they get along so well. ''Alice is searching for the papers from her history report, to rewrite it on clean paper. * Alice: Where is that little drawing of yours, Max? Alice looks around for a while, until she sees the drawing. It's a drawing of Max and Alice together playing chess. * Alice: *''tears appear in her eyes* Oh, Max, what have I done!? All the time I could have spent with you was wasted complaining and wishing you were gone! *''cries, but then stops* ''No! I must get him back! From this day on, I promise I'll never be a bad sister again! ''Alice looks all around Echo Creek for Max. At night, Alice finally finds him at Blast's house. * Alice: Max! I've been looking all around for you! * Max: Oh, hello, unsister. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be busy with your lab work? * Alice: Oh, Max, I want to apologize. I'm not better off without a sibling. * Max: I'm not better off without a sibling either. Spending the day with Blast and Ace made me realize that. * Alice: Oh, Max! You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that... * Max: And that's why I've decided to adopt Ace as my older sibling! *''hugs Ace*'' * Blast: What!? * Ace: What!? * Alice: What!? * Max: A good sibling loves and takes care of another sibling. Ace is a real sibling. * Ace: Hold on Max. Don't get ahead of yourself. * Blast: Besides, he's my older sibling! *''hugs Ace as well*'' * Ace: Yes... Max and Blast start a tug of war, each grabbing Ace from a different side. * Max: Or maybe he should be your sibling, Alice, to teach you how a older sibling is supposed to be! * Ace: Can I say something? * Alice: I don't need lessons to be a good sibling, I promise! Listen. I'll show you to cook my favorite cake, and I'll also show you how to solve algebra equations. Doesn't that sound like fun? * Max: You want me to go home with you, so we can do what YOU wanna do? * Alice: Uh... * Max: Just forget it! *''walks away*'' * Blast: We're still siblings, right Jason? * Ace: Yes. * Blast: Good. *''goes to sleep*'' * Alice: Well, that apology didn't go as expected. Ace, why do you have to be so good and make me look so bad? * Ace: Alice, you're just thinking about yourself. Being siblings is a give and take. You've been doing a lot of taking, but you haven't been given enough. * Alice: But of course I give. I give lessons. Reasonable demands. * Ace: But you never give in from yourself. Being siblings is like being a ninja. You can have a strong body, or a sharp mind, but only together, you'll have the perfect ninja. * Alice: But apart we're nothing but a mindless body and a defenseless mind. *''gasps* I know what I need to do! I just hope it isn't too late! ''Next morning, Max goes with Ace and Blast to the Siblings' Social. * Max: Well, I guess it's a good thing Alice isn't here. She'd definitely say this is all just a silly contest. * Blast: Whatever... * Ace: Look over there. It's the videogame contest, where team of siblings compete against other teams of siblings. * Blast: That's awesome! * Max: Alice would think exactly the opposite. She'd go on and on about how videogames are a waste of time, and she has much more important things to do. * Blast: Uh... * Ace: Well, it's almost time for the main event: the Sibling Race! * Max: Well, you two have fun. Sure wish I had a sibling to run the race with... Suddenly, Ace carries Max, and Blast steps aside. * Max: Huh? * Blast: Well, now you do! * Ace: Blast and I did this several times as kids. * Blast: So we decided that I'd let you borrow my brother to give it a try. * Ace: Sibling for a day. * Max: Really? Wow! * Blast: One day, and only one day. At a stage, Boulder and Tommy are with a megaphone, ready to announce the games. However, Tommy is holding the megaphone bakwards. * Tommy: Is this thing on? Hello? *''to Boulder* I don't think this thing is on. * Boulder: You're holding it the wrong way, Tommy. * Tommy: Oh, really? * Boulder: Yes. * Tommy: *''looks at the megaphone* ''Oh, yeah, sorry. *''turns it around the right way* ''Well, get ready everyone! Now we're having the event you've all been waiting for! The Sizzling Social! Uh... the Social Siblings! Uh... the Inkling Shovel? Agh... you know what I mean. The big race! * Boulder: It's Siblings' Social, Tommy. * Tommy: Siblings' Social, that's it! So everyone head straight to the finish line! * Boulder: The start line! * Tommy: The start line! That's what I said! * Max: It's time! * Blast: *''pops up near Max, with a threatening look* ''One day, and only ONE DAY! *''smiles and is back to normal* ''Good luck guys! ''Ace and Max head to the start line, and wait for Tommy to announce the beginning of the race. * Tommy: And may the best siblings win! Ready? Set? Go! The race begins. All the competitors start running. The first obstacle is a large pit of mud. Most competitors jump over it. Howvee,r Ace falls into it. He emerges from the mud all covered in mud. * Max: Are you ok, Ace? Ace nods, and comes out of the mud. However, his entire body is still covered in mud. The race continues. The next obstacle is a pile of boxes that the competitors must climb over to advance. Almost every competitor climbs up the pile of boxes easily, but Max is about to fall when here's near the top. * Max: Ace, help! Ace grabs Max's hand, and pulls him up to the top, saving Max from the fall. Next the teams need to push a wagon full of anvils each. Ace and Max push together, and proceed in the race. So far they are head to head with another couple of siblings for the first place. * Max: We can do it! For the next obstacle, each competitor must balance an egg on a spoon across a certain distance, and then place the egg in a basket. The other siblings that were head to head with Ace and Max lose the balance of the eggs, and drop them, causing them to break. However, Ace and Max stick together, helping each other balance the eggs while walking slowly across the road. They place the eggs in the basket, and then move on. The next section of the race gives each team a basket and ten rubber balls. One sibling must stand with the basket at one side of the road, while the other sibling must toss the rubber balls from the other side, with the first sibling catching them in the basket. The other siblings start tossing one by one, but missing most of the time. Ace grabs all ten balls, and tosses them in fast succession. Max grabs the basket, and moves it around quickly, catching all the balls in only a few seconds. Ace and Tommy then continue the race, and it looks like they're going to win. * Max: We're almost there! However, not to far from the finish line, another team of siblings passes them at high speed. Ace and Max try to hurry to reach the finish line first. Both teams are almost equal, but in the last second, the other team of siblings wins by a few inches. * Tommy: We have our winners! Boulder gives the two siblings medals. * Blast: That was so close! You almost won. * Max: Thank you, Ace! You were amazing! I don't even care that we didn't win. This was so much fun! However, when Max hugs Ace again, part of the mud falls off, and Tommy notices that the clothing Ace is wearing isn't the same he was using before the race. * Max: Huh? Max cleans off more mud, and realizes that it's not Ace. * Max: Alice? Alice cleans off the mud with a towel, revealing the truth to Max. * Max: Wait, where's Ace? A short flute melody is heard, before Ace is seen teleporting to next to Max. * Ace: We switched places at the first mud pit. Remember I fell into the mud? I teleported away, and teleported Alice into the mud. * Max: So, that means that Alice and I did the whole competition... together? * Alice: Yes we did, Max. Well, except for the start line. * Blast: But you finished together! * Max: Wait, so you three had planned this? * Blast, Alice & Ace: Yes. * Max: Sis, you did this for me? * Alice: *''hugs Max* Us. I did it for us. You see, we're like a ninja. * Max: What? * Alice: Heh, I'll explain later. For now, I think we all deserve a celebration! * Blast: Yeah! * Ace: Sounds good. * Max: Where to? * Alice: The science museum, of course? ''Ace, Blast and Max all start laughing. * Blast. Now that's a good one, Alice! * Max: The science museum! * Alice: No, I-I'm serious. Later that afternoon, Tommy is with Alice and Max in their house. * Tommy: So, I guess it all turned out well after all. * Alice: Yeah. * Max: Having a sibling is just about the best thing in the world. But it sure isn't the easiest. * Alice: I agree that being siblings is a wonderful thing, but it takes teamwork. Sometimes it's about compromising. Sometimes it's about accepting each others' differences. But mostly, it's about having fun together. Even if it means getting your clothes a little bit dirty. * Max: Very dirty! * Alice: No Max, just a little bit dirty. * Max: Very dirty! * Alice: I said just a little bit! * Max: A LOT! * Tommy: Hold it, hold it! How about a medium amount of dirty, not too little, not too much, just right? * Alice & Max: Deal! Sure, it wasn't the last time these two siblings would have an argument. But from now on, they would never let an argument ruin their relation again. (THE END) Category:Stories Category:Stories by Redfork2000 Category:IaLR: Heroes of Echo Creek Category:Solo stories